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DENVER – Before the Suns could catch their breath, they had too steep of a climb in front of them Friday night.

It had more to do with attitude than altitude for the Suns to take a 122-97 clobbering from Denver at Pepsi Center. The Suns did not push the Nuggets, literally or figuratively, after beating them in Phoenix two nights earlier.

The Suns also were trounced at Utah this month but at least offered a challenge into the second half of that game. Had the Suns played as fast as they fell out of favor Friday night, they might have averted the season's second-worst blowout loss.

"They had no doubt in their mind that they were winning the game tonight," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said of Denver, while adding the Suns lacked energy. "We got outhustled, outmuscled. Guys just went right in front of us. We didn't block out. I think we just showed up thinking we were going to win the game."

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Scoreboard

The Suns had won the teams' past five meetings, but the Nuggets' confidence grew with a 16-7 start in the first seven minutes.

The Suns played an awful defensive first half and were beaten badly on the boards by Denver for the second time this week, but they did not have the offense or second-half defensive turnaround to make up for it this time.

"We couldn't find the rhythm," Suns guard Goran Dragic said. "It was just off tonight. It's hard because I think early in the game, we couldn't get to our system. They were aggressive. They push us around and we were catching the ball way up on top or not in the right spots."

The Suns played without injured top scorer Isaiah Thomas for a second consecutive game due to his right-ankle bruise.

The Suns overcame it Wednesday with their trademark strengths —fastbreaks and 3-pointers — but neither happened Friday against Denver.

The Suns rallied from 21 down to win their last Denver visit. They have three double-digit comeback wins this season.

"It's not possible to do it every time," Suns power forward Markieff Morris said. "You learn from these types of games. We just played them two days ago. Now we're even, so let's move on."

Denver, a fast-paced team, did not even need to run because it was able to get into the paint or the free-throw line. The Suns (10-7) trailed by double digits for the final three quarters and had a season-worst deficit of 31 in the third quarter.

At that point, Hornacek went to a lineup of rookie Tyler Ennis — in a rare night on the active roster — with Archie Goodwin, T.J. Warren, Anthony Tolliver and Alex Len.

Between that and 28 points in the paint by halftime, the Nuggets led 66-47 at halftime with their bench outscoring the Suns' starting lineup.

"We were soft to rebounds," Hornacek said. "I tell our guys, 'If you can get away with pushing in the back, go ahead.' That's what they were doing. When no one was cracking anybody to get them out of there, that's human nature. If you can get away with it and no one fights you, then you're going to keep doing it, and that's what the Nuggets did."

The Suns are 5-4 on the road, but their three worst losses and worst defensive games all came on the road.

"We should have learned last year that we can't just show up and win games," Hornacek said.

The Suns rallied from 17 down in the fourth quarter Monday at Toronto, but shattered hopes of a rally by allowing 24 points in the first seven minutes of the second half. Arron Afflalo scored 22 in 23 minutes Friday and the Suns gave up at least 26 free-throw points for the third consecutive game (Denver was 32 of 36).

Denver scored easily on two slams, a layup and a 3-point fastbreak play for a 9-0 run in the first quarter that made it 27-15. The lead was never single digits again.

Key numbers: 64, 66.

Denver's first-half points in Wednesday's and Friday's games against Phoenix.

View from press row

The Suns could live without much scoring from their tandem of young centers but they can't go without rebounding, defensive presence or a point. When the Suns got in a 19-point halftime hole, Miles Plumlee and Alex Len did not score or assist in 18 minutes with five rebounds. The never-touted pair of Timofey Mozgov and J.J. Hickson outplayed them for 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Any hope of a second-half turnaround for Plumlee ended quickly.